Biomaterials and Nanotherapeutics for Enhancing Skin Wound Healing

Abstract

Wound healing is an intricate process that requires complex coordination between many cell types and an appropriate extracellular microenvironment. Chronic wounds often suffer from high protease activity, persistent infection, excess inflammation, and hypoxia. While there has been intense investigation to find new methods to improve cutaneous wound care, the management of chronic wounds, burns, and skin wound infection remain challenging clinical problems. Ideally, advanced wound dressings can provide enhanced healing and bridge the gaps in the healing processes that prevent chronic wounds from healing. These technologies have great potential for improving outcomes in patients with poorly healing wounds but face significant barriers in addressing the heterogeneity and clinical complexity of chronic or severe wounds. Active wound dressings aim to enhance the natural healing process and work to counter many aspects that plague poorly healing wounds, including excessive inflammation, ischemia, scarring, and wound infection. This review paper discusses recent advances in the development of biomaterials and nanoparticle therapeutics to enhance wound healing. In particular, this review focuses on the novel cutaneous wound treatments that have undergone significant preclinical development or are currently used in clinical practice.

Functionalized silk fibers from transgenic silkworms for wound healing applications: Surface presentation of bioactive epidermal growth factor

“…Additionally, growth factor levels including the epidermal growth factor (EGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF‐2), transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β), platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are decreased in chronic wounds compared to normal healing acute wounds . Thus, the implementation of growth factors into topical wound dressings or biomaterials represents a promising approach to treat chronic wounds byrestoring the natural physiological wound healing cascade …”

“…16 Thus, the implementation of growth factors into topical wound dressings or biomaterials represents a promising approach to treat chronic wounds by restoring the natural physiological wound healing cascade. [17][18][19] One initial study modified silk mats with EGF by mixing the growth factor into a silk fibroin solution during electrospinning. Those biofunctionalized silk mats exhibited a slow release rate of EGF for 170 h and were able to promote wound healing by accelerating the wound closure of wounded human skin-equivalents in vitro.…”

Effects of Aloe Vera and Chitosan Nanoparticle Thin-Film Membranes on Wound Healing in Full Thickness Infected Wounds with Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

“…In order to mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) conditions of the wound and to provide a scaffold for the fibroblasts for collagen deposition, ECM-based therapies have gained popularity [38]. A phase I clinical trial using fibroin to enhance wound healing is currently underway.…”

Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Current Advances in Antimicrobial Therapies and Emerging Treatments

“…However, further investigations are required to guarantee that the activity of antimicrobials improves efficiency, in combination with other therapies, against the diverse microorganism populations found in DFU infections. Table 9 displays the current treatments for DFUs (drugs, devices, and biologics) that are FDA-approved [151,152]. Table 9.…”